Braintree were stunned by lowly Hitchin Town who inflicted their first home defeat of the season.

The visitors arrived as the team second from bottom in the Ryman League premier division to face a Braintree side who had won nine of their previous ten matches at Cressing Road and the other was a draw.

But it was Hitchin who left with the points thanks to a spectacular 20-yard strike from Stuart Beevor midway through the second half which rocketed into the net.

Braintree boss Ben Embery conceded: "It absolutely flew in. Goalkeepers just don't save those type of shots."

But he was not too disheartened after the defeat, which saw his side drop one place to fourth in the table due to Aldershot Town's win at Hendon.

Nicky Simpson, Robbie Reinelt and Andy Potter all spurned good opportunities to give Braintree a first-half lead.

And the visitors dug in well after the interval to defend their precious lead.

Braintree have been blighted by injuries in recent weeks and their misery continued when Terry Howard and Dean Parratt both had to limp off in the second half.

Howard picked up a thigh strain while Parratt is suffering from a hamstring injury. Both are expected to miss the Boxing Day fixture against Heybridge.

The only bright spot was the return of Dave Culverhouse who returned after a lengthy lay-off following a cartilage operation. He came off the bench to replace Howard.

Embery said: "We played quite well first half, but we never really got into them. But the side I am putting out at the moment is nothing like the one I would like to field and the result reflects that."

Embery also admitted to being surprised by Hitchin's performance, which belied their position in the league table.

"They played very well, but had we had the full complement of players available it might have been different," he said.

Of his sick list, Tommy Noble and Bradley Quinton are the only players who may recover in time to feature on Boxing Day, although Embery put their chances at "about 30 per cent".

Published Wednesday December 19, 2001